Bad credit ratings happen to people in all walks of life. Sometimes a catastrophe such as business failure, divorce or illness leaves an erstwhile financially healthy member of the public in dire straits.

Investors must be sure they won't be forced to sell at some point, because that's when hefty losses can hit.

"I am hoping that when we launch our new 7pm current affairs show, Story, it will give us a boost," Mark Jennings says.

Jock Anderson on the clear leader in the scramble to succeed Dame Sian Elias as the next Chief Justice, and more.

A key industry is suffering, but other economic signs paint a happier picture, writes Brian Fallow.

Toshiba's CEO and two other top executives resigned after presiding over a US$1.2 billion accounting scandal. Well and good, but when do we see some criminal indictments?

There has never been a better time to pull out his term "crisitunity", writes Eric Crampton.

Personal finance columnist David Chaplin on exchange-traded funds and the NZX taking a big punt.

Wheeler struck the right note in this morning's official cash rate announcement: appropriately dovish but not alarmist.

Gold prices have been weak lately, recently falling below US$1100 ($1516) an ounce for the first time since 2010, writes Mark Lister.

David Chaplin says Crown Financial Institutions have generally been a boon to government books over the last few years.

The NZ-China free trade agreement doesn't stop new restrictions on house sales to overseas buyers, but National's subsequent deals try to, writes David Parker.

Social media is popular, but nothing beats having your own database of clients and prospects to market to.

There is a important debate to be had about foreign investment in NZ because we are a small, open economy and a big shift in global trends can have a disproportionate impact, writes Liam Dann.

Too many options can be paralysing when you’re choosing products, so here are some tips to get you moving towards something better.

It's known as confession season - that time of year when companies do their end of year accounts and come clean on any nasty surprises they've uncovered.

Labour lit the fuse on a jury-rigged device and threw it into a shopping mall of opinions, with sadly predictable results, writes Bernard Hickey. But it needn't have been this way.

I've edited your long letter, which went into more detail about how hard it was to get a clear picture of fees, commissions and so on. I agree that's poor.

It's human nature to think of life as linear. There's a starting point, a journey and then an end point. We're born, we live, we die.

'Have you got a pet investment?" My mother leaned across a cafe table to ask me this question a few weeks back and the idea for an article was born.

Auckland QC Paul Edmund Dacre - who led the fatally flawed prosecution of John Banks - is not out of the fire, writes Jock Anderson.

Exactly where does the housing ladder lead, asks Brian Fallow - to financial security, or to years and years of debt servitude?

NZ On Air will decide on Wednesday whether to fund a new 5:30pm soap opera which TV3 hopes will help boost ratings for 3News, writes John Drinnan.

The Chinese market crash and new rules combine to make investors look further afield.

Liam Dann says axing 523 jobs may make financial sense to Fonterra's chiefs but the dairy slump is bigger than that.

KiwiSaver auto-enrolment could capture an extra 220,000 members above benchmark levels, writes David Chaplin.

Robyn Pearce's tips on managing information in our modern offices and basic layout considerations.

Tech blogger Juha Saarinen reviews Apple Music and gives you the steps you need to turn off the automatic renewal.

Cabinet power broker Steven Joyce needs to do more than sniff the political breeze when it comes to foreign house buyers, writes Fran O'Sullivan.